Author confirms ‘Bird Box’ book sequel

The popular Netflix movie with Sandra Bullock is based on a book published in 2014.

Author:
Adrianna Rodríguez, TEGNA Staff

Published:
12:28 PM CDT March 20, 2019

Updated:
12:28 PM CDT March 20, 2019

Months after the Netflix film “Bird Box” hit the streaming service in December, author Josh Malerman has confirmed that there will be a sequel to the book.

The writer told Esquire that the sequel novel “Malorie” will take place eights years after the original story’s end and will give more explanation to the creatures that the characters shield their eyes from.

Netflix’s post-apocalyptic survival film was highly criticized for showing footage of a real fiery train disaster, which the streaming service ultimately decided to take down.

The stock footage was taken from a 2013 crash in the Quebec town of Lac-Megantic when a train carrying crude oil came off the tracks and exploded into a massive ball of fire, killing 47 people.

Netflix licensed the footage from the stock image vendor Pond 5 and used it in "Bird Box" in an early TV news montage. The Sandra Bullock-led thriller is about monstrous entities that compel any human who sees them to quickly try to kill themselves.

Pond 5 in January said the footage "was taken out of context" and apologized. But Netflix said at the time it wasn't planning to cut the clip, although said it was looking at ways to do things differently moving forward.

Nexflix changed its mind and said it will replace the footage with an outtake from a former TV series in the U.S. The company said it is "sorry for any pain caused to the Lac-Megantic community."